1. Technical Field
This disclosure relates generally to identifying machines in a computing environment.
2. Background of the Related Art
In a large organization, there are often many different types of machines, sometimes known as “endpoints.” The different types of machines often have very different characteristics. Uniquely identifying machines and consistently tracking the unique identifiers is important when managing a large number of machines in an enterprise environment. To this end, management systems for identifying and tracking machines within an enterprise are known. Most management software of this type is designed to manage individual instances of an operating system (OS). Typically, however, the management software is not concerned whether or not the OS is installed on laptops or virtual machines. This complicates the effective management of such machines as operating conditions change.
Software to identify an endpoint machine may execute on the machine itself, or on a server to which the machine is connected. Current techniques to identify a machine include several approaches. One approach uses network attributes, such as IP address, hostname, and MAC address. Such network attributes, however, typically change over time. For example, typically an IP address and hostname may be set by a DHCP server, and a laptop or other mobile device may have several different MAC addresses available to it from connections provided by Ethernet, wireless, or a removable 3G wireless card. Another known approach to identify a machine is to use hardware attributes of the machine, such as processor type, processor serial number, system volume serial number, model, manufacturer, and the like, akin to a “fingerprint.” While such information is invariant, it is not useful in a virtual environment, as these values may change depending on where the virtual machine is running. In addition, as machines are cloned (e.g., either using backup software or virtual management software), such cloning necessarily impacts the ability of the management software to correctly identify and/or track the machine in question.
It is desired to provide an enhanced technique to uniquely identifying machines in a computing environment that is robust enough to enable a particular machine to be recognized even in the face of changes to one or more attributes of the machine, repair of the machine or some component thereof, changing MAC addresses, or even cloning. This disclosure addresses this need.